Chapter 3

" Very disgusting... and immoral!? Do these women have dignity left in their bodies? ", Veronica wondered while making a disgusting face as she saw some women wearing short skirts and mini shorts in this modern world. (In Veronica's era, women tended to wear dresses that cover most of the body as a moral custom)

Elaine saw her daughter's disguised face towards other women, and she started to get upset and embarrassed. So she pinched her on her waist. 

" Ouch!!! What was that, Mother!? ", Veronica asked as she flinched and kept rubbing it to ease the pain. 

" Can you stop glaring at other people? Do you want to pick a fight here!? ", Elaine said, she tried to keep calm and continued to walk. 

They went to the mall as Veronica demanded to have a new dress for her mother as she was not satisfied with Arriane's left clothes. Elaine was so happy to hear it from her daughter as she also agreed to trash them all. But her patience was running out because of her daughter being nitpicky.

" Arriane... What clothes do you want to buy? ", Elaine asked her daughter. 

" Any normal dress, Mother ", she replied. 

" It's very unusual that the type of dress I wore only at the mansion in my past life... became casual dress here. I have to choose, we're not that rich ", she thought, then a deep sigh came out from her mouth. 

" Where's that deep sigh coming from? Hurry up, I already saw one here! ", Then her mother suddenly pulled her to a shop. 

" Wait Mother... "

They went inside a huge shop of clothes and accessories. As they walked around inside the shop, Veronica was dumbfounded by the clothes designs and styles.

" Is this the modern world's dress? ", she wondered. 

Then Elaine saw her daughter's eyes sparkling at the dresses. 

" Do you like them? This shop is renowned for its unique designs of different attires. ", Elaine said, she was happy to see her daughter like them, but she was startled when Veronica's tears suddenly fell from her eyes as she recalled the time when she went shopping with the Duchess, her past mother. 

" You don't like them, dear? "

" No Mother, I'm just happy. I love you Mom. ", she answered while wiping her own tears, and smiling at her mother. 

Then Elaine immediately embraced her and patted her head. And Veronica felt warmth in her heart, like the Duchess also embracing her. 

" I love you too, my dear. So go around and pick whatever you want... Remember, don't hold back ", Elaine said with a wink from her eyes. 

" Yes, Mother! ", she answered, then she ran away to look for her new dresses. Arriane was usually a timid and shy girl, and Elaine frequently saw her as gloomy and depressed. But this time, Elaine felt a sudden flare of joy in her heart as she saw her daughter smile again. It's like a dream come in true for every mother who always wished for their daughter to live happily. 

Veronica already had 4 dresses, and she's still looking for some. But she has a little struggle in choosing because the designs of the dresses from this world were unfamiliar to her and most of them took her taste. And now, she's currently staring at the three dresses in front of her. 

" Which one of them? Should I pick all of them? ", she wondered. Each of the dresses was worn by a mannequin. 

" I'm going to pick this one... Wait... Should I call a staff member? ", she looked around, but there's no people around. Then she decided to walk away to look for assistance, but as she stepped away from the mannequins, her bag was hooked onto the dress of a mannequin and the mannequin fell down on the floor. 

" What the— I'm screwed... ", she thought as she saw the doll shattered into different parts. But when she saw its head rolling and stopped at her feet, a horrible vision overlapped to her mind. She remembered the time when she was beheaded and how her neck felt the pain of the blade that cut through her head. And she also began to hallucinate the head of the mannequin as her own head. Then she suddenly felt a pain in her neck and experienced difficulty in breathing, her knees collapsed on the floor and trembled in fear. 

" Help!!! ", she cried, but it was so muted that no one could hear it. 

Then a man came to help her, he noticed that her eyes kept on staring at the head of the mannequin as she trembled, so he immediately kicked the head away from sight. 

" What happened to you? ", the man said as she was still trembling and curling up there. So he tried to cover her with his coat and embraced.

Then Veronica suddenly snapped out when he felt someone embracing her. 

" W-What happened again? ", she wondered as she woke up from the trauma. Then she was startled when she saw the man who embraced her, she was able to recognize him from Arriane's memory. 

" Henry!? ", she mumbled. Then she started to blush and get embarrassed 

When Henry noticed that she had calmed down, he suddenly pushed her away and stood up. 

" Hey! What was that!? ", she protested. 

At the same time, the shop staff came for help and saw the two of them. 

" What happened here, Sir, Ma'am ", the staff asked. 

" She got tripped there because of that broken mannequin of yours, help her! ", Henry said with a cold face and walked away. 

" That guy... ", she thought. 

The shop staff immediately helped Veronica to stand and apologized to her. 

" Are you hurt, Ma'am? Sorry for this incident. For compensation, we would like you to give a 40%-discount for all dresses you want to avail. ", the shop manager said. 

Veronica tried to keep her composure and faced them. 

" Okay... But if this happens again, I won't forgive you then. ", she said while glaring at them. The staff saw her dark stares and trembled in fear for an unknown reason. So they immediately bowed and apologized again. 

Then Veronica started to walk again while wondering about Henry.

" So that's Henry, he looks so handsome in person than Arriane's memory. But much colder as well ", she scowled. But Veronica's hand was still trembling because of that trauma that keeps on haunting her. 

" But maybe I should be more careful now, I never expected that I would react like that... Dammit! ", she thought. 

She was on her way to the counter with the dresses she picked. She saw her mother standing there and waiting for her, then her mother startled to wave at her. 

" My dear... Right here! ". 

" Mother, you're so loud, it's embarrassing! ", Veronica mumbled. 

" Sorry, I'm just so excited... Look who's here! ", Elaine said.

When Veronica saw the man that her mother talked about. She was startled when she knew that it was Henry. 

" W-What!? You again! ", she said with a surprised face. 

" Huh? Did you already meet her before me, Henry? ", Elaine asked. 

" Yes Auntie, we met each other when I'm looking for a new coat here. ", he answered. 

" O my, what a coincidence hehe ", 

According to Arriane's memory, Henry and Arriane already knew each other in the past. Henry's mother died right after he was born, which made his youth lonely until Arriane's mother, Elaine, came and stood as his stepmother. But he knew that Elaine had a daughter, Arriane, then he began to envy Arriane. That's why he always gave her cold stares before. 

" So he's here to steal my mother? I will never let him! ", she thought. Then she suddenly embraced her mother. 

" Arriane!? What happened—"

" Nothing, just let's get out of here... " 

" Ahmm, okay... Henry, sorry, but we're going first now ", Elaine said. 

" It's okay auntie, I hope we meet again next time ", Henry said, and Veronica was startled when she saw him look at her and smile. 

" I hope we meet again, Arriane ", he said to Veronica, then he turned around and walked away. 

" What!? Do my ears not deceive me right now? Does he say that he wants to meet me again? ", she wondered. 

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